Thursday, December 27, 2012

Here's a post that got removed from the Blue Board today. Whether the poster also got banned remains to be seen. I'm posting it here because I believe it shows the current mindset about the moderation that goes on there. Most are afraid to criticize der Führer's modus operandi out of fear of being banned themselves. But might there be safety in numbers? What would happen say, if all the posters there spoke out at the same time? They could shut down the Blue Board! Well... almost. No doubt there would still be one person busily posting away, and that would be the brown nosed Chris "Tartuffe" Albertson, who always makes a point to post a hypocritical "thank you" whenever the moderator criticizes something said or lays down the law.

Note that the post being replied to was referring to a particularly nasty ad hominem attack by Chris Albertson, which out of respect to the target we will not repeat, but which was allowed to remain on the board for 2 days and 52 viewings, until this particular poster caused the entire thread to be disappeared.

Friday, December 21, 2012

The word's out that WBAI is in the process of relocating from 120 Wall Street to Harlem. The new digs will have a well equipped broadcast studio that is solely for the use of WBAI. Meanwhile management and key staff personnel will be temporarily moving to the World Financial Center downtown for the next six months, while the search for permanent space continues.

WBAI never fully recovered from the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, but has learned some lessons in the process, which has made it easier to find workable solutions. Logistic problems which may have seemed insurmountable at one time are now being dealt with in creative ways. The plan is to have a flexible arrangement in the future, where hosts will be able to broadcast and hook into the station from various offsite locations.

Check back for more details of WBAI's move as they become available.

January 2 update
It was announced that WBAI will be moving to the studios of WHCR at City College, which is located at 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031. They have two main studios and one performance room. One studio will be dedicated for WBAI.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

This is part of a post that we found on the Blue Board recently, along with some commentary.

I'd be interested in Armand DiMele's diagnosis of Chris Albertson, based on the self-serving papp he posts to his blog regarding BAI in general, and this discussion board, in particular.I mean, why *this,* happened upon the other day when I ran a TOTALLY unrelated search :

"Also happening on the BB is Pam Cooke's persistent effort to have a censorship order against Edwin Johnston lifted. I have no idea who Johnston is, but I gather that he played a not so nice role in a past coup.

Commentary: Of course he doesn't. This is a typical example of how little Chris Albertson actually knows about the WBAI/Pacifica community, even though he's constantly sounding off like an expert.

Post continues:

Anyway, Cooke—who appears to be a selective free-speech advocate—is very eager for him to be allowed to speak freely. Johnston is probably a nice guy, but one has to wonder about anyone who is endorsed by these native habitués of the infamous snake pit—they'll hiss on you in a New York minute if you say something that doesn't sit well with them."

Edwin Johnston is an activist, artist, writer, renaissance man, who happens to have done ten times as much for KPFT in just *one* of any number of years, than Albie's done for BAI throughout ALL the years since he, unfortunately, *discovered* the station. Why try so obviously to cause a rift between people - ? Someone who plays those kind of anti-social, manipulative games is just a low life control freak.

Commentary:
Chris Albertson is indeed all that, but not JUST that. We think there's much more to his continual assaults on WBAI, and that his disruptions are the mark of a professional, well-thought out plan. Before you discount that idea, let me remind you that WBAI and Pacifica have always been targets of disrupters, in assaults that go beyond any one particular individual's narcissistic need for attention.

Commentary:
Sad but true. It's an abomination that when anyone searches on WBAI now, they have to wade through all thst sludge. In his overweening egotism, Chris Albertson has set himself up as some special arbiter of what's supposed to be good about WBAI and Pacifica, and he has been using the Internet to promote himself and disparage WBAI.

Might I add that Albertson has been given free reign on the Blue Board by the short-sighted and near-sighted R. Paul Martin, who pretends to like free speech, while curtailing the free speech of several people in the WBAI community.

Post ends: What an arse Albie is.

Commentary:
True, but that single term does not totally sum up Chris Albertson, who is more than a stupid and foolish person who acts like a buffoon. There's a method to his madness. What's mind-blowing is how some others have acted like "arses" by paying so much attention to this guy -- who have actually courted his opinion. Usually they are those who have some sort of ax to grind, or suffer from some degree of sour grapes syndrome - and there are even a few people who seriously love WBAI and have sincere insights to share who fall into his traps. Why they would pay any attention to him is the question. Thread killer
Chris Albertson shuts down any reasonable discussion about the station with his over-the-top screeds. He seems to sit stationed on the Blue Board, ready to pounce on every poster that shows up, to turn every thread into an Albertson-directed attack on WBAI. The hapless poster who dares offer legitimate concern or criticism immediately gets walloped, and will usually retreat at that point. Result: end of what could have been an informative thread. Albertson's really quite a master of that. Sadly, a couple of the posters who could actually respond to this because they have clearer heads when it comes to WBAI, and were able to give the guy a run for his money, were prevented from doing so by the short-sighted moderator R. Paul Martin, who decided to ban them on some inconsequential pretext. One of them posted a message from management, which Martin didn't like. R. Paul Martin, who has been exerting his control freak power on the board that he now owns, apparently believes that he's the only one who should be posting "official" management memos (never mind that the poster in question was the outgoing Chair of the WBAI LSB). The other poster got banned for daring to refer to Albertson's daily regurgitations as "dumps". Well off with that poster's head for using such a "scatological" term! These were mere pretexts of course.

Please Support Andrea Sears' Reporting

Unemployment insurance is running out for Andrea Sears of Left Voices, former WBAI/Pacifica News Editor, who was part of the WBAI staff layoffs last August. Despite some promising interviews, Andrea does not have a job yet, and would really appreciate your support.